At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason. (A website by Trevor Grant Thomas designed to inform the world from a Christian conservative worldview, and to make new and better disciples of Jesus Christ.)
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Wednesday, September 21, 2016

On Marriage and Gender, Where’s the FCA?

A wise pastor, whose name I’ve forgotten, once said, “If you want to know what to preach about, find out what sin with which your congregation is struggling.” Or, as I noted after the infamous Obergefell ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that legally redefined the oldest institution in the history of humanity, pastors, as they prepare their sermons, should always be asking, “Where is the enemy at work in attempting to deceive my congregation?”

Likewise, any organization devoted to the works of Jesus Christ—or seeking to “impact the world for Jesus Christ”—should be well prepared to confront the popular lies that seek to undermine the eternal truths of our Creator. I’m no longer directly active with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and thus I’m not privy to what is happening at the local level of the FCA in my area. However, with the widespread efforts of athletic organizations across the U.S.—at the high school, collegiate, and professional level—in support of the homosexual agenda, I’m very disappointed not to hear national FCA leaders speak truth to a nation that desperately needs to hear it.

Whether same-sex “marriage,” the “right” for men to dress as women and use women’s bathrooms and locker rooms, and the like, everyone from the NFL to the NBA, NCAA, ACC, ESPN—and virtually any other three-to-four letter combinations that represent organizations devoted to making money off of athletics—has recently and enthusiastically embraced positions that are diametrically opposed to what Christianity teaches on these grave matters.

Of course, this deception is not limited to the world of sports. Virtually every facet of the entertainment industry has set itself in opposition to the Word of God when it comes to marriage, family, sex, and sexuality. And as virtually any sentient American knows, the lies of the homosexual agenda have been embraced by the highest components of the U.S. government and are cemented into the platform of the Democrat Party.

Christians who know the truth but choose to remain silent need to recall the words of Mordecai to his cousin Esther (paraphrased):

Do not think that if you remain silent in this matter you will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise from someone else. And who knows but that you have come to your influential position for such a time as this?

The North Carolina GOP hasn’t remained silent. After the NCAA’s recent ignorant and foolish decision to punish the state of North Carolina for its common sense legal response to the city of Charlotte’s perverse “bathroom bill,” NCGOP spokeswoman Kami Mueller declared,

This is so absurd it’s almost comical. I genuinely look forward to the NCAA merging all men’s and women’s teams together as singular, unified, unisex teams. Under the NCAA’s logic, colleges should make cheerleaders and football players share bathrooms, showers and hotel rooms. This decision is an assault to female athletes across the nation. If you are unwilling to have women’s bathrooms and locker rooms, how do you have a women’s team?

I wish the NCAA was this concerned about the women who were raped at Baylor. Perhaps the NCAA should stop with their political peacocking — and instead focus their energies on making sure our nation’s collegiate athletes are safe, both on and off the field.

Franklin Graham let his influential voice be heard as well. After the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Council of Presidents voted to move sports championships out of North Carolina, highlighting the glaring hypocrisy of the ACC and NCAA, Rev. Graham wrote:

As a lifelong resident of North Carolina and current CEO and president of two organizations employing nearly 1,500 North Carolinians, I am saddened—even outraged—by the vote of the ACC Council of Presidents to move conference championships from our state in protest of legislation requiring people to use public bathrooms that correspond with their birth gender.

While I recognize this legislation—and legislation like it in other states—is complicated by society’s continued blurring of the lines of gender and sexual identity, I also recognize the profound hypocrisy of the ACC, the NCAA and other companies and organizations who are making calculated business decisions disguised as moral outrage.

For example, the football championship game your conference voted to move from Charlotte in December is called the “Dr. Pepper ACC Football Championship.” Dr. Pepper and its parent company, Cadbury Schweppes and Carlyle Group, proudly sell their products in countries where homosexuality is illegal. Will the ACC drop its title sponsor? And why isn’t the LGBT community demanding you sever ties with such a “bigoted” corporate sponsor?

Currently, LGBT relationships are illegal in more than 70 countries—including 10 where homosexuality is punishable by death. Dr. Pepper is often bottled under contract by Coca-Cola bottlers—yet Coca-Cola conducts business in virtually every nation on earth, including nearly every country where homosexuality is currently criminalized. Can your conference continue to tolerate that?

However, there’s nothing like this from the FCA, nor from prominent members of the FCA (you know who you are) whose words would hold powerful sway over a nation that is obsessed with celebrity.

The “Statement of Faith” of the FCA is biblically sound and strongly evangelical in its tone. The opening part of the statement declares, “We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.” The statement later declares, “We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.” The FCA Vision is “To see the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.”

If one believes the Bible is the “Word of God,” then one must conclude that—as the Bible clearly reveals—a person cannot “live a godly life” while unrepentantly engaging in homosexual activity. Likewise, if one believes the Bible is the “Word of God,” one cannot accept that a human being who mutilates his body in order to live the perverse fantasy that he is the opposite gender is living “a godly life.”

To “impact the world for Jesus Christ” is to tell the truth in these matters. As I’ve noted before, one of the greatest acts of love a Christian can perform—especially in our culture today—is telling the world unpopular truths. Right now, homosexuality, same-sex “marriage,” and transgenderism are pretty popular. This is especially the case in the “Wide-Wide World of Sports.” The national leaders (official and unofficial) of the FCA should not need to take cues from Franklin Graham, the GOP, or anyone else, in how to battle the lies of the homosexual agenda.

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I was born in 1969 to Edsel and Carolyn Thomas and have lived all my life in Northeast Georgia. I've been a follower of Jesus since 1986. I am originally from White County, where I graduated from high school and lived for the first twenty-plus years of my life. (Most of my family and my wife’s family live in White County.) Michelle and I married on January 31, 1998. We have 4 beautiful children (three boys and one girl): Caleb, born 2002; Jesse, born 2004; Caroline born 2006; and Noah born in 2008. We currently reside in the North Hall area. I have a BS degree in physics from the University of North Georgia, an MEd in mathematics education from the University of North Georgia, and an EdS in mathematics education from the University of Georgia. I've been teaching high school mathematics (public and private) since 1993. In 2013 my wife and I published Debt-Free Living in a Debt-Filled World. In 2016 I published The Miracle and Magnificence of America. I have been writing opinion columns since 2001. I have been blogging (though not with my own blog) since 2007. My hobbies include anything that allows me to spend time with my family, and includes action movies, swimming, hunting, fishing, gardening, and maintaining my lawn. I also enjoy most sports that involve a ball, and try (somewhat) hard to not cuss while watching the Georgia Bulldogs, the Atlanta Falcons, Braves, and Hawks, and the Dallas Cowboys.